If you’re all all about hummingbirds, this wonderful story is for you!
“Don’t judge a book by its cover” is probably one of the most commonly used sayings in the world, and this story about an unlikely friendship is one that we can relate to this timeless maxim.
One couldn’t help but feel intimidated when they see Michael Cardenaz. The man is an imposing figure – he is tattooed, muscular, and utterly massive. He spent 14 years with the sheriff’s office, he is a former SWAT team member, and now, he is a Homeland Security agent. Michael also has a great love for Harley-Davidsons, German shepherds, and “running and gunning”.
All the factors above establish Michael’s “tough guy” persona.
But don’t be fooled, because the truth is, this man is not what most people think he is. In fact, the gentle giant has made friends with someone completely unlikely – a tiny hummingbird.
Dubbed by his neighbor’s as “Doctor Doolittle”, Michael is an avid rescuer of hurt animals.
“For some reason, animals are attracted to me,” he says. “I’ve rescued squirrels, foxes, rabbits, deer — you name it,” he said.
But while his other patients have gone after they’ve recovered, one, in particular, had been visiting him annually for the last four years – a hummingbird that he named Buzz.
When he found Buzz, the bird was in bad condition.
“He had an injured wing,” Michael said. “I don’t know if he flew into a window or what. But he was outside my home, by the wall, just sort of spinning in a circle. Their wings are almost like plastic, they’re transparent. Several of those had broken. So he couldn’t gain flight.”
After speaking to some of his friends who worked in wildlife rescue and know all about hummingbirds, Michael decided that he will nurse the tiny bird back to health. He fed the bird Pedialyte and sugar and kept him inside to protect him from predators.
It took 8 weeks before Buzz fully recovered and within that period, Michael felt that the bird was already part of his family. However, he knew that the right thing to do was release it back into the wild, and that’s what he did. He let the bird fly around his backyard and when the time came, Buzz left his home.
“He would fly around the yard and come back when he got exhausted because that was his comfort zone until he finally took off for the winter,” Michael said.
Hummingbirds don’t like the cold, so they fly to Central America or Mexico during the winter months and return when it’s warm again. Because of their species’ nature, Michael thought that he would never see Buzz again.
But he was wrong.
In fact, the very next spring, the bird came back to visit him and has surprisingly done so for the past four years!
How can he be so sure that the bird who had been visiting him was indeed his rescue, Buzz?
“I was kind of shocked by it,” he told MNN. “Finally, I’m thinking, ‘Random hummingbirds don’t just land in my hand. This must be one of my rescues. I mean they all look alike.”
It might be hard to believe, but this man has made a friend in a tiny hummingbird.
“Some people hit a dog on the road and don’t blink an eye,” he says. “But cops — public safety workers in general — have a desire to help not just people but living things in general. I guess that’s where I come from,” Michael said.
He added, “I’m probably not the guy you would think nurses hummingbirds, but you see them helpless and you want to get them back on their feet.”
What a compassionate man! For Michael, it is his duty to love and care for all living creatures – may it be human or animal – and this bird, in particular, has remembered his good deed and decided to thank him with yearly visits!
It is indeed a beautiful story, watch the video below. Share this now with your friends and family!